10 ways to stop wasting money on your annual meeting

May 31, 2011

Your annual meeting can be a springboard into a successful year or an expensive party that does little to advance your business objectives. Here are some ways to help you make sure your meeting delivers.

Set goals
Ask yourself: What do you want your business to achieve in the coming year? How can your attendees help? Then design a meeting experience around that.
Ask your audience
Get a perspective from your attendees. Ask a third party to do a qualitative study with them, so they feel free to speak their minds. And—when they do—make sure you listen.
Make it for them
Put the focus of the meeting on your attendees: Honor their successes. Hear from their top performers. Zero-in on their concerns.
Be consistent
Make sure everyone, from the CEO on down, is on the same page and understands the focus of the meeting. This helps ensure your attendees will go home with a clear understanding of where the business is going and what they can do to have a big year.
Turn “have to” into “want to”
Feelings beget attitudes which beget behaviors. If you successfully engage audience emotions, great things can happen.
Redesign learning
Focus educational workshops on the topics your attendees need the most help with. Use actual examples from the field. Make sure they leave each session with ideas they can put to work the day they return home.
Give ‘em a break
Whether your meeting pulls your sales team out of the field, your franchisees out of their territories or your managers out of their stores, they still need to stay in touch with what’s going on back home. Build in time during breaks and meal times so they can keep things running smoothly.
Celebrate their achievements
If you don’t have an integrated awards program, start one. Make a big deal out of recognizing top performers. And design your program so different people qualify for awards each year.
Choose wisely
Your attendees respond to the composite experience of what happens at the meeting. Are the rooms clean and comfortable? Is registration quick and efficient? Does the A/V work like it should? Delivering a professional experience takes professional partners, so choose them wisely.
Find out if it worked
When it’s done, find out how you did. That means surveying attendees for more than just operational performance: Did they take home the key messages? Are they positively predisposed to try new techniques? Then use that information to design follow-up communication and improve your meeting next year.